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LAGOS – The annual World Twins Festival at Igbo-Ora in Oyo State can generate over one million dollars in revenue and create over five thousand direct and indirect jobs if all its value chains are properly harnessed.
Ambassadors Taiwo and Kehinde Oguntoye, the most famous Twins in African Tourism, and the initiators of the World Twins Festival, the annual cultural festival that celebrates the high rate of multiple births, made this known during the just concluded 2024 World Twins Festival with the theme: “Twinning for Love, Unity and National Economic Reorientation’’.
‘’The developmental overview of the Twins Tourism Project is beyond the annual Twins Festival. We shall be more deliberate and harness all the benefits available for the development of this project. There is a huge value chain we are yet to tap into, we can create over 5,000 direct and indirect jobs and generate over $1 million revenue.
‘’Twins are special beings loved by all irrespective of their ethnic, religious, political, or even sexual classification. Twins and multiple births exist in all facets of life and all parts of the world. However, as Twins Tourism we are positioned to culturally and economically draw all the obtainable twins and non-twin traffic to Oyo State and Igbo-Ora, the Land of Twins,’’ the twins said.
The social-cultural festival has become global and registered the ancient town of Igbo-Ora, Oyo State, and the country, Nigeria in the calendar of World Tourism, hence the need for the various stakeholders to key into this untapped goldmine.
And, in line with the agenda of keeping the festival glowing, promoting tourism and expanding the economic frontier of the state, the initiator said the first World Twins Village would be unveiled next year.
‘’A verifiable and certified world’s largest gathering of twins will occur next year to unveil the first World Twins Village and that will be to the great credit of this present administration in the state, as the governor had physically and openly shown the world that he is a lover of creative and innovative cultural adventures and tourism. With this unique twins pilgrimage, we all have a joint task for humanity,’’ said the initiators of the festival.
Interestingly, the Government of Oyo State is putting more effort into ensuring the festival is globally accepted and listed by the UNESCO World Heritage cultural site.
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, who was represented at the event by his deputy, Bayo Lawal, assured that his government would continue to support the festival to attract more investors by improving all necessary infrastructure and creating an enabling environment that will make tourism thrive.
“What we are doing today is worth celebrating. You can see that we have a lot of people who came here from far and wide for this event.
“Research has shown that 10 percent of births in Igbo Ora are twins. We should ask ourselves why it is like that. But if we know that such is what God has blessed this town with, we are supposed to guard that uniqueness jealously.
“We should also know that twins are special children from God. It is the same foods they eat here that are eaten in other places but they have their uniqueness of multiple births in Ibarapaland,
‘’I want to tell you that Oyo State Government is making efforts to upgrade the celebration of this event to UNESCO standard, which will make people come from America, Asia and other continents of the world,’’ the Governor said.
“It is not an exaggeration to say there is a set of twins in every family in Igbo-Ora, the town has a great number of twins, and many of the twins are blessed and further give birth to twins. Igbo-Ora, is referred to as the Land of Twins, it is also called the World Capital of Twins because no community has surpassed the town in terms of the number of twins.
“Most people in the town believe that eating okra leaves, locally known as Ilasa, enhances the chances of producing multiple births.
“Twins, a symbol of love and unity, are well celebrated among the Yoruba race which is one of the reasons the festival is transcending and keeps attracting more people outside the state and the country”.
Taiwo Aina, a documentary photographer, was delighted to be in attendance. ‘’I have been hearing of Igbo-Ora and its twins festival.
‘’My Kehinde is in Ilorin, I am delighted to be here today to be part of the celebration and as well to document the festival and Igbo-Ora as a whole,’’ Aina said.
The festival organised by Igbo-Ora Community Foundation and Ibarapa Central Local Government in conjunction with Oyo State Government and the Twins World Creation Intercontinental, was colourful with most twins regaling in Ankara uniforms while some, mostly the identical twins decked in special outfits like Aso- Oke and dazzling lace materials.
